Blog

Update: Our online shop is sold out of Beer : Barrel : Time 2018 bottles.

Side Project Brewing is excited to announce the 2018 release of our non-adjunct, Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout that focuses on three key things that really exemplify Side Project – the Beer we brewed, the Barrels that beer aged in and the Time spent in those barrels.

Before we describe what Beer : Barrel : Time 2018 consists of, we wanted to pull some information from our 2017 BBT blog post to explain what BBT is and why we brew it:

* * * To kick off our first larger Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout release, we wanted to showcase why our brewers first fell in love with this style and the purity of what beer does when aged in our favorite barrels for the amount of time it tells us it needs.

Adjuncts are very popular right now (and we all know Cory loves adjuncts and loves brewing stouts with them!), but we feel as though before we start trying to produce larger batches of our adjunct stouts, we want what may be the first Side Project Barrel-Aged Stout that many of you try to be of its purest form, nothing hiding behind any integrated ingredients. We want the vanilla, the coconut, the chocolates and all of the other lovely flavors found in this style to come from our process, our recipes, our barrels, our blending and our time.

Beer : Barrel : Time represents this marriage. * * *

The barrel stock we tasted through to choose the 2018 BBT blend is the exact same stock that we pull from for the Derivations and all of our stouts. We have brewed 12 different stout recipes, aged them in a variety of barrels, and then always thoughtfully selected and blended to achieve our goals, whether it be Beer : Barrel : Time, a new blend of Derivation or the Barrel-Aged Stouts by Shared.

For Beer : Barrel : Time 2018, we chose a blend of our stout recipes that consisted of O.W.K. aged in Willett Bourbon barrels for 20 months, … (Ellipses) aged in Heaven Hill barrels for 23 months and Derivation Blend #3 aged in Knob Creek barrels for 17 months. Whereas BBT 2017 spent a little less time in barrel, the additional average age for the 2018 blend let the rich chocolate and sweet coconut notes of the beer and oak come forward a bit more, resembling some of the older, non-adjunct Derivation Blends.

Beer : Barrel : Time is planned to be a yearly release that will happen every Thanksgiving weekend. It will always be no adjunct purity! Read on to discover how you can purchase your bottle of Side Project Beer : Barrel Time 2018.

Thank you!

Purchasing Details:

1. To-Go Side Project Beer : Barrel : Time 2018 is a 750ml bottle for $40 + tax. You must be 21 years old to purchase.

2. Bottles of BBT 2018 will be available to purchase TO GO via our web site only. The bottles will go live in our online shop this weekend: www.sideprojectbrewing.com/shop. We will TWEET from @SideProjectCell when the shop is live.

3. You are only allowed to purchase one bottle TOTAL per person. This will spread the bottles out to as many people as possible. If you purchase more than one bottle, ALL of your purchases will be refunded – no exceptions. Make sure there is only 1 bottle in your cart at checkout!

You can purchase ONE of four options based on where and when you’d like to pick up your BBT:

4. Bottles must be picked up by the purchaser. Absolutely no proxies. If you cannot be there to pick up your bottle within the allotted timeframe, do not purchase a bottle.

5. There is no physical “ticket." After you successfully make your purchase, your name will be emailed to us. All you will need is your valid photo ID that matches the BBT purchaser name to pick up your bottle at the appropriate location on the appropriate day. If Peter Parker purchases a BBT, then Peter Parker needs to show up to pick up his BBT with a valid photo ID that says he is Peter Parker.

6. Purchases are non-transferable and non-refundable and must be claimed on the date specified.

7. Bottles must be picked up at the location and on the specified date you chose. You cannot purchase a Cellar pick up & pick up your bottle at the Brewery. The brewery will NOT have your name on their list.

8. If you do not pick up your purchased BBT during the BBT weekend, you are forfeiting your bottle. Any unclaimed bottles not picked up will be used for charitable donations, raffles or auctions by Side Project Brewing.

9. All Sales are Final. Just to reiterate – no refunds, no transfers, no exchanges, no changes to your purchase and no proxy pick-ups.

Also…

- Side Project Beer : Barrel : Time 2018 will be available for on-site enjoyment at both locations in addition to your one to-go bottle per person that was purchased online.

- Thanksgiving Weekend is meant for sharing with friends and family! Due to the high ABV of these beers, only one 750ml bottle of on-site Imperial Stout/Barleywine will be allowed per person. So if you want to enjoy more than one 750ml bottle of High-ABV beer, there needs to be more than one person. The Side Project Cellar and Brewery Tasting Room are also great places to meet people and split fun bottles! Please drink responsibly and use Designated Drivers, Ubers, Lyfts, Taxis, etc...

- We also have some fun surprises in store for the entire weekend! We look forward to kicking off the holiday season with you!

- If you have any further questions, please email orders@sideprojectbrewing.com. Thank you!

Photo by Tim Bottchen of The Side Project Cellar’s 1-Year Anniversary Celebration

The Side Project Cellar's 4-year Anniversary is Nov. 11, 2018! Since Nov. 11th happens to fall on a Sunday this year, we’ll be celebrating starting the Tuesday leading up to our Anniversary. We hope you join us for some of the fun:

We decided to celebrate one of our favorite breweries during our Anniversary Week this year. Plus, on Saturday, Nov. 10th, we’ll be releasing our Terroir Project beers (more info below)! We’ve been cellaring so much delicious Firestone Walker beer since we opened, we thought our Anniversary Week would be a great time to pop some of these bottles, all stored in their original boxes at 58 degrees in our Side Project beer cellar. The following FW bottles will be available at Open along with another tasty surprise:

Side Project Anabasis is our American Barleywine aged in Bourbon Barrels for 2 years before its release. Blend #3 bottles will be released on a later date.

Friday, Nov. 9th at 3pm: Side Project 5 Candles Draft - THE DEBUT!!!

Just like 1 Candle, 2 Candles, 3 Candles & 4 Candles, 5 Candles is our draft-only, Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout with unique flavors that are best enjoyed still, or with no carbonation.

Our 5 Candles is our O.W.K. Stout Recipe aged in two Still 630 Rye Barrels and finished on 5 different types of Vanilla Beans and Served Still.

Saturday, Nov. 10th at OPEN at Both Locations: Side Project Terroir Project Release!

We were honored to be invited by Firestone Walker to participate in the Terroir Project along with Garage Project, Jester King, Trillium, Sierra Nevada and Beavertown.

“From the West Coast to the East Coast, London to New Zealand, each participating brewery was invited to produce their own distinct hybrid, but with three binding stipulations: we all had to use the same grain bill; the same maturation period in barrels; and the same co-fermented percentage of wort & wine grapes. The kicker: all grapes had to be grown within 100 miles of each brewery. The result is an unprecedented exploration into how “terroir”—or sense of place—drives what we taste.” More info about this project: https://www.firestonebeer.com/brewery/terroir-project.php

Side Project created two beers for the Terroir Project: Side Project Terroir Project Chambourcin and Terroir Project Vidal Blanc. This beer/wine hybrid was co-fermented with grapes from Noboleis Vineyards - one beer with Chambourcin grapes and one beer with Vidal Blanc grapes. Both were bottled in 375ml bottles and will be available To Go for $15 each from both locations at Open on Saturday, Nov. 10th.

The Side Project Cellar may also be pouring some Anniversary Week leftovers from our exciting week! Please check our website that day to see what’s available: www.thesideprojectcellar.com

We look forward to celebrating with you next week! Thank you for 4 incredible years of The Side Project Cellar! Cheers to many more!

Thank you to all of our Zwanze Day attendees and volunteers! Because of your incredibly generous donations at our raffle table, we all raised $10,555 for Friends of Kids with Cancer! That’s $1,030 more than we raised last year - holy moly! Thank you for supporting this amazing local organization.

Another big thank you to Jester King, Monkish and Casey Brewing & Blending for helping us raise this money with their wonderful beers! And thank you to the lovely Cantillon for giving us a good reason to celebrate delicious beer and support Friends of Kids with Cancer. And a big shout out to our volunteers Ruth and Dan for working our FOKWC raffle table during our Zwanze celebration!

When compared to our other 375mL fruited Wild Ales, Balaton is quite different. It is currently the only one that uses a sour brown as the base beer for which the cherries are layered into and re-fermented. To me, it is one of the more traditional sour beers that we produce - a Sour Brown with Cherries.

For the second blend of Balaton, we brewed the recipe in late 2016, racked it to a new Missouri Oak Foedre, and left it to rest with our native microflora. In November of 2017, the mature sour brown was then moved to 225 liter French Oak Red Wine barrels with 2017 harvest Balaton Cherries from King Orchards in Michigan. The barrels were allowed to referment and age until July of 2018 before a blend was chosen and the bottles and kegs were naturally conditioned until now. After 2 years of work, we are happy to have Balaton back to share with you as both to-go and as an on-site offering at both of our locations!

On the weekend of October 27th and 28th, we will be releasing the 375mL bottles of Balaton Blend #2 to-go. We are going to divide the batch up and release a portion of the bottles on both days, to allow everyone, both locals and out-of-towners, an easier opportunity to enjoy our beer! By spreading out the bottles and the release over 2 days at The Brewery, we also hope to alleviate some of the load on our tasting room and create a better, more enjoyable environment for everyone! Bottles will be available to-go starting at noon on October 27th at The Brewery and 1pm at The Side Project Cellar. On October 28th, the rest of the batch will be available to-go starting at noon at The Brewery again.

Bottles will be $20 per and the allocations per person will be based on the number of people that turnout on both Saturday and Sunday. Bottles will be available for on-site enjoyment at both The Brewery and The Side Project Cellar starting the 27th as well!

Thanks again for reading about one of our beers and your continued love of our small, niche brewery...